Woman alleges 24-year captivity

Monday

Apr 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 28, 2008 at 9:25 AM

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Police have found a woman who told authorities that her father had kept her in a cellar for almost 24 years and that she had given birth to seven children after being repeatedly raped by him.

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Police have found a woman who told authorities that her father had kept her in a cellar for almost 24 years and that she had given birth to seven children after being repeatedly raped by him.

The 73-year-old father was taken into custody, Franz Polzer, head of the Lower Austrian Bureau of Criminal Affairs, said yesterday.

Authorities found the woman, who had been missing since 1984, Saturday evening in the town of Amstetten after getting a tip, Lower Austria police said.

The 42-year-old woman told police that her father began sexually abusing her when she was 11 and locked her in a room in the cellar on Aug. 28, 1984.

In the 24 years that followed, she said, she was continually abused and gave birth to seven children, the statement said. She said she gave birth to twins in 1996, but one infant died several days later; police said they are investigating that claim.

Police said in the statement that the woman appeared "greatly disturbed" psychologically in questioning. She agreed to talk only after authorities assured her that she would no longer have to have contact with her father and that her children would be taken care of.

DNA tests are expected to determine whether the man is the father of the six surviving children, police said.

Police said three of the children were registered with authorities and lived with the grandparents. The other three children apparently were held captive in the cellar with their mother, Polzer told reporters.

The Austria Press Agency said the three males and three females range in age from 5 to 20. A 19-year-old woman was hospitalized in very serious condition.